Determining accurate concentration measurements in flowing solutions has long been a problem. For example, when determining the salt content of a river, one cannot simply stick a saline meter in the river. The constant flow of water would cause the saline meter to spike at some points of the measurement and dip at other points of the measurement. In order to combat this problem, a user might first pull out water from the river using a, and then dip the saline meter within the water in order to take an accurate measurement.
In fact, it is common to first remove a sample of solution from a solution flow in order to take an accurate measurement. WO2009137834 to Difoggio and US20110201009 to Quake both teach methods where a user removes a sample of solution from a turbulent flow, and then places that solution within the meter in order to obtain an accurate concentration measurement of molecules within the solution.
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US2011/0201009 to Quake teaches a method of using light in order to detect and sort biological materials and measures materials so rapidly that the speed at which the solution moves past the detection window is largely irrelevant for normal solution flow. Not all materials, however, can be detected using a light sensor. Many chemicals can only be detected by a chemical or electrical reaction with a reactive material, which requires a substantially static equilibrium in order to take accurate measurements.
Thus, there is still a need for improved systems and methods to measure the concentration of chemicals within a turbulent solution.